When Janice Lewellen was at her lowest after losing her husband a few weeks before Valentine’s Day 2024, she never expected to have her spirits lifted by complete strangers on a mission to serve widows. But that’s exactly what happened.
“Not only was it Valentine’s Day, but it also was my 30th anniversary,” Lewellen shares. “To have sweet women bring me a gift was probably the greatest thing they could have done at that moment.”
It was then that she decided to volunteer with the organization that had reached out to her—Brighten Up Nashville—to help remind other widows in her community that they are loved on a day when they might feel especially lonely.
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THE CHURCH THE CHALLENGE ONE BIG IDEA |
The idea for the ministry came to founder Angie Hurst after she had walked alongside friends who had lost their spouses. Desiring to make sure they were not forgotten, Hurst, who serves as ministry assistant to the leadership team at Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee, began asking the Lord how she could bring God’s kingdom here on earth.
When she heard about a North Carolina nonprofit that delivers flowers to widows on Valentine’s Day, she knew God was telling her something.
In the following weeks, she started with the goal of delivering 75 bouquets. She and her husband Mike put out the word at church and through social media and local TV spots, asking people to nominate someone who would benefit from a special gift. To their surprise, they made 226 deliveries that first year.
“[God] tells us that we are to care for the widows, and this just confirmed that he is with us in this,” Hurst reflects.
The nonprofit recruits volunteers through a page on Long Hollow’s website as well as their own. Last year, a few hundred people turned out to prepare and make 636 deliveries.
In addition to bouquets, widows receive gifts including devotionals, truffles and tea towels. The organization now delivers to widowers, too, who receive leather shave kits, candles and chocolate bars. Volunteers prepare the bouquets and gift bags, then deliver them with the intention of sharing the love of Christ with each recipient.
“We include some Scripture-based things, so it’s very purposeful, because we don’t know where they are in their journey with the Lord,” says Hurst. “We want to encourage them to grow closer to him.”